tedr108

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  • in reply to: buying CPS’s in US #13904
    tedr108
    Participant

    Thanks, Dennis. I think I’ll get myself a few.

    Sounds like you really enjoy shrimp breeding. A good thing about CPDs is that they make good shrimp tankmates because 1) they like cold water, also and 2) they eat few, if any, of the baby shrimp. However, only the CPDs that you don’t want to breed should go in with the shrimp, because the shrimp love to dine on fish eggs!

    I put 6 tiger shrimp in with my CPDs a couple of months ago. I now have about 50 tigers running around. Unfortunately, the extra bioload of the shrimp is forcing me to start doing water changes again (after none for 6 months). My plants can no longer absorb the nitrates fast enough.

    in reply to: buying CPS’s in US #13902
    tedr108
    Participant

    Dennis,

    I have to ask… Where did you get that cool-looking green shrimp in your profile picture!

    in reply to: Starting from Scratch #13885
    tedr108
    Participant

    Bob,

    I was rethinking my recommendation about cory cats, by the way. My gut feeling is that they will find a way to your CPD eggs no matter how thick your java moss is. Corys are eating machines.

    If you have any other tanks that can hold your cleaner critters, I think shrimp are your best choice. Just move the shrimp over to the other tank occasionally and you will have fry in less than a week. Then you can move the shrimp back again. The only problem will be if and when your shrimp start having babies themselves. It may be almost impossible to catch them all. I bought 6 tiger shrimp a couple of months ago and put them in my CPD tank. I now have 50 of the dumb things, in all shapes and sizes! If you go with Amano shrimp, you will be safe from babies, since their babies require a larval stage in salt water. When your Amanos do have babies (it has happened to me), the shrimp fry will be about the size of baby brine shrimp and will make a good supply of live food for your CPDs. :D Any that are not eaten will not survive in the fresh water.

    in reply to: Starting from Scratch #13883
    tedr108
    Participant

    This is what I did (whether or not this is what you should do is another matter!):

    1) 20G long tank. My CPDs stick to the bottom mostly, so no need for a high tank.

    2) Any good filter will do — just use a sponge prefilter over the intake to avoid fry getting sucked in.

    3) Any plants that you have good luck growing will be fine — the java moss is usually recommended as a place where your CPDs will lay eggs. I also created some acrylic yarn sponge mops for extra egg-laying areas.

    4) Bottom feeders: shrimp are a NO-GO if you want fry, they eat eggs; maybe pandas or some other type of small corys for bottom feeding. Other fish: there are probably many smaller fish that are compatible with CPDs, but most will probably eat the fry. Heck, even some of your CPDs will probably eat the eggs and fry. The main thing to avoid is aggressive eaters (even if small) — they can make it very difficult to get food to your CPDs (who are very passive).

    5) These are really tough little fish. With reasonable care, you shouldn’t have to worry about them much. I had my 18 CPDs in a 50G tank with probably 50 other fish at one point, including 25 cardinal tetras, panda corys, pencil fish, etc, etc. My only trouble in that tank was trying to get them fed.

    Honestly, I’ve been a little disappointed in their shyness. They will hide much of the time in a planted tank where there are hideouts. Even the slightest amount of movement outside of the aquarium makes mine run and hide, even though they are all very happy. The only way I really get to observe mine is to sit very still — the lower down I get, the better. Mostly I sit still during feeding time to get a good look at mine.

    Anyway, hopefully some others will pipe in here with other (and better) information.

    in reply to: Walstad Tank #13882
    tedr108
    Participant

    I understand your concern about algae. If you have a place to put the shrimp, however, you only need to remove them for a week or so. Once the fry hatch, you can put the shrimp back in.

    As far as how long it takes for the CPDs to start having fry… A month is plenty of time, assuming they are even remotely happy. Like I said, I’m sure yours are already laying eggs. Many people like to have some sort of moss (like java moss) in their breeding tanks, but it looks like your CPDs have plenty of good places to lay eggs in your fine-leaved plants. I made some “spawning mops” out of green acrylic yarn, which my CPDs seemed to use.

    Anyway, try removing your shrimp for a week or so. I think that you will see fry in a few days. Remember, however, that you may have a hungry adult CPD who enjoys eating eggs and fry. I know that most of mine were being eaten. I was just able to rescue some here and there. Keep a sharp lookout for fry, they are easy to miss. If your adults are well-fed, it is more likely that you will get fry.

    in reply to: Will CPD’s school with other danios? #13879
    tedr108
    Participant

    I had zebra danios in with my CPDs for a short while … they had nothing to do with each other. Not only that, it was almost impossible to get food to my CPDs because the zebras were such fast and aggressive eaters. CPDs are passive, including at feeding time. You need to choose carefully what fish you put with them. As of now, I have mine in a 20G species tank (CPDs are the only fish, with some shrimp).

    in reply to: Walstad Tank #13878
    tedr108
    Participant

    I can almost guarantee you that your CPDs are breeding. It is the shrimp. I used to get almost daily fry until I got shrimp. Now I get zero fry — the shrimp love to eat the eggs. Take the shrimp out and I’m sure that all will be fine. That’s not to say one or more of your CPDs won’t eat the fry before or after they hatch. However, I was able to rescue fry from my main tank and was able to raise them to adults.

    In general, you want to have a separate breeding tank. Put some males and females in it for a couple of weeks, then remove them. You will get many more fry that way.

    During the summer months, I would rescue the fry from my main tank and actually put them in an outdoor tub with floating plants (and some anacharis). The little guys just raised themselves — no feeding at all. When they got big enough, I put them in the main tank.

    Sexing is rather easy for adults. In the 2 pictures above, all 4 fish are males. You see that fin on the bottom closest to the tail? It’s orange-black-orange-black. On a female, it will basically be a combination of orange and clear or opaque.

    in reply to: Outdoor tubbin with CPD? #13843
    tedr108
    Participant

    I was wondering the same thing, Luke. I’ll probably try both. However, no matter where the fry are born, I am taking them out to the outdoor tubs to grow up, just like last year. It is very convenient to not have to feed those little guys all the time. I’m sure it is also very healthy for them to be living completely off of live food and to be in the sun.

    I raised 3 types of fry in the outdoor tubs last year (CPDs, long-finned danios, and one betta). When there was a high concentration of fry in one tub, I started feeding them at about 1/2″, since I wasn’t sure there was enough live food available in the tub.

    in reply to: Trying to breed CPD- help #13824
    tedr108
    Participant

    Mine have bred anywhere from 24° – 28°C, but I have heard of them breeding at 22°. Your water may be a little cold, but perhaps you read up on them and know that 19° – 20° is fine.

    Other than possibly raising your water temperature slightly, I think you may just need to give them a little more time to get used to their surroundings — it sounds like you have everything set up well.

    Their eggs are very small. If you pull the adults out in a couple of weeks, you may find that you have plenty of fry a few days later. :)

    in reply to: Outdoor tubbin with CPD? #13823
    tedr108
    Participant

    Thanks to my reading this thread a while back, I set up a couple of outdoor tubs last summer — I live in Los Angeles, CA. I didn’t actually put adult CPDs in them, but I did rescue a couple of fry from my main tank and put them in the tubs. Both fry did very well with no feeding at all and are now healthy adults living back in the main tank. I put shrimp in my CPD tank at one point and unfortunately do not get fry any longer.

    It is now too cold to keep fish in my outdoor tubs, but next year I will start early in the season and try to breed some adult CPDs. These little CPDs are amazingly tough — they are a good fit for outdoor tubbing.

    The main plants in my tubs were hyacinths and water lettuce and anacharis (loose) — nothing fancy, but the water stayed very clear and healthy. I also had some of those little floating plants, whatever they are called.

    in reply to: Breading Carnegiella strigata #13797
    tedr108
    Participant

    Found on the internet:

    Breeding: Although [difficult], Carnegiella strigata strigata (Marbled Hatchet) can be bred in aquariums. They require very soft and acidic water and floating plants on which the eggs are deposited. The fry hatch within 1-2 days. Carnegiella strigata strigata (Marbled Hatchet) fry are very small and requires small food.

    Sounds similar to South American fishes like cardinal tetras, except that the eggs are deposited on floating plants. I’m not sure what floating plants are available to you, but I would think that anacharis would do the trick (not sure on that one). Depending on your local water hardness, you may have to get some RO or DI water to start with, along with some sort of peat or new driftwood to leach tannins into the water to keep it soft and to keep the pH low.

    You probably won’t have much trouble breeding CPDs at least. Lots of good advice on this forum. I’ve rescued a few fry from my display tank and raised them to healthy adults.

    in reply to: San Diego breeders? #13796
    tedr108
    Participant

    Did you see this thread below?

    http://www.celestialpearldanio.com/viewtopic.php?t=720

    It gives a link to this SD store that may have them:
    http://www.aquaticwarehouse.com/site/index.cfm
    US $8.00 each CPD

    My LFS here in LA ordered some for me, even though I only wanted 12 or so. A store in SD may do the same for you.

    in reply to: Neon Tetras – anyone know how to breed them? #13766
    tedr108
    Participant
    in reply to: Hi everybody! #13765
    tedr108
    Participant

    Welcome, Jesse … nice to have you aboard.

    Your CPDs will probably slow down a little when they get used to their surroundings, but they are very shy by nature. If you have hiding places in your tank, they will use them when you are near the tank.

    As your white clouds get older, they may get to all of the food before your CPDs can get there. Keep an eye out for that. I just put all of my CPDs (19) in their own 20G tank last week — I was having to do some tricky things so my CPDs would get to eat in my main tank. They are not aggressive eaters, at least not when other types of fish are around.

    Looking forward to you sharing some photos with us.

    in reply to: new breeding tank *pics #13761
    tedr108
    Participant

    Nice setup, Chadly … lots of good ideas there.

    I need to do something similar. I’ve only been able to rescue 1 fry from my display tank (all others have been eaten) — he/she just recently joined the big boys/girls in the display tank and is doing very well.

    Thanks for sharing the pics with us … keep us updated.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)